452 Memorial to Henry Alleyne Nicholson. 



At either side, surmounted by two small Brachiopods of the- 

 genus OrtJiis, is a harmonious and elegant band of ornaments, 

 composed of various natural forms of Graptolites gracefully and 

 artistically interwoven, showing how a difficult problem in symbolical 

 ornamentation can be overcome if properly approached with the 

 necessary skill and power of design. 



Above the head is a panel representing in low relief the wide 

 expanse of the Cumberland mountains about Penrith, Nicholson's 

 birthplace, and among which for so many years he laboured 

 geologically, with the appropriate inscription "Levavi oculos meos- 

 in montes." ^ 



Beneath the square inscription is a rich band of ornament, formed 

 by the calices of the beautiful Silurian coral Omphjma suhturhinata^ 

 and the inscription — 



" He did a day's work and a man's work."^ 



At the lower corners are placed two Trilobites (Fhacops caudatus 

 and Calymene BlumenbacJiii) artistically worked out from specimens 

 in repousse brass, which form most valuable decorative bosses. 



The particular idea which the artist had in view, and has 

 successfully realised in the tablet, was to make it expressive of 

 Nicholson's lifework and interests. 



The work has been executed with great care and attention to 

 detail, and shows the impression of the tool which is the natural 

 result of hand-labour, and is free from the pockmarked appearance 

 of many modern works in metal in which the hammer marks are 

 applied, after the work is finished, by other than the legitimate 

 hand-processes which, being an affectation, are as far from having 

 any artistic merit as the highly polished machine-made product. 

 The colour of the work is a natural oxidized brass, which harmonizes 

 in a very restful manner with the oak slab upon which it is mounted, 

 and being filled with lead at the back is as permanent as cast bronze, 

 but still retains the lightness of hand-beaten work. 



Professor J. Arthur Thomson, who acted with Mr. J. E. Marr 

 in arranging for the Nicholson Memorial, has been untiring in his 

 exertions to see this work carried out satisfactorily, and has 

 rendered most valuable assistance to the artists throughout. 



It is proposed that the Memorial Tablet, at present temporarily 

 placed in the Natural History Museum in Marischal College, should 

 find a permanent and prominent position in the new Geological 

 Museum which is included in the extension of the University 

 buildings now in progress. 



The Memorial Tablet was handed over to the custody of the 

 University of Aberdeen on Graduation Day, July 24th ; it was 

 received by the Very Rev. Principal Marshall Lang, D.D., and 

 some of Nicholson's old colleagues paid eloquent tributes to his 

 memory. H. W. 



1 " I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills " (Ps. cxxi, 1). 



2 Suggested hy Professor LapAvorth. 



